Happy Meals are healthier after SF law, researchers find

Kids’ meals at fast food restaurants in San Francisco have gotten healthier since San Francisco supervisors passed its (in)famous “Happy Meal ban” in 2010 — which actually just barred fast-food restaurants from giving away toys in unhealthy kids meals.

But the law itself can’t be directly linked to the improvement, researchers found.

A Centers for Disease Control report of a study done at Stanford, released Thursday, examined how both families and McDonald’s and Burger King reacted to the law’s passage and implementation. Researchers found that kid’s meals at both fast-food chains became slightly more healthy during that time, though neither ever complied with the ordinance, which called for specific reductions in fat, sodium, calories and sugar. Instead, both chains simply sold the toys for 10-cents a pop.

But over the study’s two-year period, McDonald’s in particular made big changes to its Happy Meals, said Jennifer Otten of the University of Washington School of Public Health — first in California, then nationally.

The fast food giant cut the amount of French fries it serves in Happy Meals in half, replacing them with apples; stopped serving caramel sauce with apples; and began offering nonfat chocolate milk to customers. Otten said those substitutions were “pretty dramatic,” — they reduced the calories in a Happy Meal by 110, and cut the sodium and fat content of the meal as well.

“They said it wasn’t in response to the ordinance, but it was certainly in a direction consistent with the intent of the ordinance,” Otten said. “You hear a lot, when you talk about childhood obesity… the mantra that small changes make a difference. And for a kid, depending on their age, this can be a dramatic change. For two- and three-year-olds, the government recommends 1,000 calories a day — so a meal going from 520 calories to 410 can make an impact.”

So while the jury’s still out on the law’s direct impacts, “increasing awareness around what’s being served can only help parents make good choices,” said Otten said.